Mr Noades, 28, whose family own the course spoke fondly of the 5ft 1in comedy legend and said he still attended the eponymous charity day in his name: "He would come to the dinner afterwards and do a speech, full of jokes - always very funny."

Ronnie on the course in 2004 (Photo: Rex)

Playing in a celebrity tournament in 1994 (Photo: Rex)

"He used to spend the summers up in Scotland, but the last few years, from what I understand, he wasn't able to go.

"He would come out and play a couple of holes, and was on the course a lot with his dogs - less so in the last few years. He was more frail in the last few years. "

Revealing he had left his mark on the club, Mr Noades continued: "We have the Ronnie Corbett classic every year, which is a charity golf day.

"He would come, he hadn't played in it for years, but he would come to the dinner afterwards and do a speech, full of jokes - always very funny."

He was educated at the James Gillespie School and the Royal High School, Edinburgh. At the age of 15, he was playing the Wicked Aunt in a pantomime at his local church youth club in Edinburgh.

At just over 5 feet 1 inch tall, Corbett initially played characters younger than his real age, and he joked about his size throughout his career with self-deprecating humour.

After two years overseeing animal-feed rationing at the Ministry of Agriculture in Edinburgh, and National Service with the Royal Air Force, Corbett moved to London and started to do summer seasons and first met David Frost.

“Of course we were quite different but somehow we fitted so well together. I think it’s a more pleasant and palatable thing to see people being funny together because you’re touching areas of truth. Dinner parties or falling out with people – it’s the naturalness of it.”

It was working with Ronnie - who passed away in 2005 - that he said was the moment of his professional life he would relive if he could.

He revealed: “When Ronnie B and I did those two big sell-out seasons at the Palladium. Having sat in that same theatre at 18 and seen Bob Hope, Jack Benny and Danny Kaye perform there… To think that we were in the same place, together and being such dear friends. That’s a pretty hard one to beat.”

A rising star of the stage at the time, he first met Anne in the fifties while working the late-night revues at Danny La Rue's Club at Hanover Square but was devastated to find out she was already married.

After her husband's sudden death she married the comedian in 1965. They went on to have two daughters Emma and Sophie, who both became actresses.

“We’ve been very fortunate,” he admitted. “I’ve had a very happy life and although I have had tragedy,” he adds – referring to the loss of their first child Andrew who died at just six-weeks-old, he continued: “I’ve never suffered from any darkness.”

After Barker's retirement, Corbett had many starring roles in the theatre, including The Seven Year Itch, Out of Order, The Dressmaker, and on TV, the sitcom, Sorry.

In 1996, Corbett appeared in John Cleese's follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures. He played a sealion-keeper at a zoo, but he said his worst experience on the film was when he had to carry "a very smelly baby ostrich".

In sitcom Sorry!

The following year he recorded An Audience With... for ITV. In 1998 he returned to his famous armchair in a new Ben Elton series for BBC1, as well as starring in a Pizza Hut commercial campaign.

Films he appeared in included Top of the Form, You're Only Young Once, Casino Royale, No Sex Please, We're British and Fierce Creatures.

His publications included: Ronnie Corbett's Armchair Golf, The Small Man's Guide To Life and his autobiography High Hopes. He was a keen and proficient golfer, and a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.

Corbett was awarded a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours for his services to charity and the entertainment industry. At a celebration to mark the award, Corbett collapsed in a restaurant in January, but recovered.

Receiving his O.B.E. for services to Entertainment (Photo: SWNS)

He was presented with the award by the Queen at Buckingham Palace in February that year.

Afterwards he admired his medal - which matched his blue and pink striped tie - saying: "It's very pretty. It's a very lovely honour. I shall treasure it."

The sketch show veteran has been involved with many charities, including the RNLI and the Variety Club.

With Prince Charles (Photo: SWNS)

In March 2014 Corbett was among the speakers at a memorial service at Westminster Abbey for Sir David Frost, who died the previous September, aged 74, while on the Queen Elizabeth cruise ship where he was giving a speech.

Corbett was also among more than 200 celebrities and public figures who urged Scotland to stay part of the UK ahead of the country's historic vote on independence in September 2014.

He joined figures including Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Dame Judi Dench, Simon Cowell and Professor Stephen Hawking in signing an open letter to "voters of Scotland" calling on them not to leave the UK.